


Project Start

by vmprsm



Series: LC Destin [6]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Gen, Starkiller Base, i just want a total and complete backstory of the creation of starkiller, life in the first order, so in lieu of the canon here we are, sorry everyone, the shipping tag, this is not a self insert, this is what happens when people tell me i can have ocs, whomp there it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 21:32:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8770078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vmprsm/pseuds/vmprsm
Summary: So guys, if you have ocs or self inserts inside the First Order I am totally up to put in cameos as this goes on. (this installment needs to be edited for italics, posting on mobile)





	

**Author's Note:**

> So guys, if you have ocs or self inserts inside the First Order I am totally up to put in cameos as this goes on. 
> 
> (this installment needs to be edited for italics, posting on mobile)

Destin woke fifteen minutes before her alarm, after waking every hour for the last five, and rolled out of bed more keyed up than anyone had a right to be with as little sleep as she’d actually obtained. 

She showered, dressed, fiddled her clothes, redressed. Her clothes didn’t feel as if they fit right, her hat wasn’t straight enough. She huffed in frustration after tying her hair back into a practiced, tight bun for the fifth time, and dropped her hands to her sides. It was clear she would never feel prepared for this, even as the last of the planning meetings closed, even as she digitally signed her name on the blueprints. The work that was already done felt to be a strange dream, not good or bad but deeply overwhelming when looked at as a whole. Starkiller Base was bigger than her, the design team, the executive team, stars, it was almost bigger than the Order itself. If this came together, well….they will have changed the galaxy. Something so complex, such a marvel even in the wake of the Death Stars, the likes of it would never have been built before.

There was always something fearful in being part of something so much larger than yourself. Destin pressed her hat back on for the tenth time, and pinned it on carefully.

The shuttle they would take down to the planet was ready when she arrived, and Hux was already standing near the ramp, because of course he was. He probably had woken an hour before his alarm, and had woken every half hour before. She could sympathize, and certainly did not view it with judgment. Who wouldn’t be anxious, or excited, or anything that kept their skin jumping off their bones about what was to come? The project had hardly begun, and this was not her first time on the newly renamed Starkiller, but the barracks, officers quarters, and accompanying amenities were complete, and the real work could begin.

They were moving. 

When she had rolled out of bed, it was to a bare floor and bare walls. Her desk was empty save for her datapad. The only clothing in her closet was her uniform for the day, and her small toiletries were packed in an away bag that she had slung over her shoulder. She would be moving on a more long term basis, a couple of years at minimum, until the base was running on its own, and then presumably she would be reassigned to the next project. The General, however, was having more of a working vacation on the base. He would have permanent quarters, of course, as he was acting commander of Starkiller as well as the Finalizer, but the fact of needing to split his time meant he would stay to see the construction truly started, he would return to the Finalizer and then visit Starkiller for crucial meetings, inspections, inaugural events, etc. Still, the excitement hummed in her head that she was able to take this trip in his company, as, if not an equal, an equally important member of the project. 

In working with him it had become clear that while Hux was brilliant, and extremely well educated, he was not omnipotent. There were things he did not know, things he asked for clarifications on not because he doubted them but because he simply did not have the knowledge. He could not be expected to be all-knowing, and anyone who had that impression was a bit ridiculous. It was becoming clear, after months of meetings, that he was as fallible a man as any other, but worked his best not to be. 

Even at his own detriment, she noted, taking a glance up at his tired eyes before flicking them back down to fiddle her jacket cuffs.

“Good morning, Lieutenant Commander.” He greeted, not moving an inch out of his parade rest. 

“Morning, sir.” She replied, settled into her own stance, and they waited quietly for the rest of the crew. The ship was still being checked and therefore they had no place else to be. It felt awkward, standing out in the open in the hanger. 

After several minutes, he looked over and down. “You are free to speak. Given how outspoken you have been in the past I am almost surprised by your reservation.”

Destin took a few moments to process the words, and his inflection. The words had been matter-of-fact in delivery, but his tone was light. She looked up, having to actively tilt her head back to see his face, and found its expression open. Was he...teasing her? It had happened so few times she was unsure how to respond. 

“Ah,” she started, and took a breath to avoid blurting words like an idiot, “I simply have little to say today, sir. I believe my preoccupation with today’s events preclude my talkativeness. I could talk about the weather?”

The General raised an eyebrow, amused. “In space.”

“On Starkiller.” She insisted, trying not to let him embarrass her. Of course she’d meant on the planet…

“Mm.” He replied. “Well, I suppose you could, but I regret to say I already know.”

“Of course you do.” Destin muttered the statement, half annoyed and half amused herself. She would expect nothing less.

Hux did that little smile he would sometimes grace the destroyer with, then turned back towards the shuttle. He spoke softly, pitched so that his voice would not carry. “This will be a much different posting than what you have been placed in so far. I’m sure you’re aware, but you will have increased visibility, responsibility, and authority. Command in any form is never to be taken lightly. I believe you will not disappoint, but it is my duty to remind you of your duty.”

For him to have so much power, and to take the time to impart such words upon her, Destin could not help but smile genuinely. It was clear he felt her anxiousness. If anything would calm her, it was a reminder of the path forward, of her accomplishments now and i'm the future. It was clear and promising.

“Yes, sir. It is my honor to uphold the values of the First Order.”

The General glanced aside at her, then jumped his shoulders to resettle his coat. “Yes. Well. I will be available if, after things are settled in, you have any major issues unsolvable by the executive team alone. With the meticulous planning for this project I don’t forsee it happening often, but so many moving parts, you know.” An arm emerged from inside his coat and waved casually. 

Destin nodded.

A sound came from across the hangar, the doors to another major vein of hallways opening swiftly and without announcement. Layers of black cloth swept through the doorway, and she held back a groan. No one on this ship wore so much true black except for Kylo Ren. His helmet glinted in the overhead lights as he stalked towards them. Have mercy, she thought, today is tough enough. 

The masked man came to a halt in front of the General, and they exchanged a tense silence. Kylo Ren had been posted to the Finalizer as long as Destin had at least, though from her snooping, not much longer. The Jedi Killer was barely seen around the ship although left it infrequently, and the officers were wise enough to keep to themselves about it. Everyone knew the rumors of the jedi and sith of the prior generations, able to read minds and move object with no more than a wave of their hand. Much of the command chain was scared to know or snoop into anything about the Force-user, afraid of drawing his ire. Destin didn’t much take stock in all that, but she had seen his lightsaber in action once, had seen the results of it numerous times, and wasn’t at all interested in seeing what else he was capable of. She liked her clothes unsinged and her throat free of constriction, thank you very much. 

“Ren.” Greeted Hux, lips tight.

“General.” Ren replied, his voice distorted by the mask. Kylo Ren was frankly enormous up close, and she did not very much like it. Hux was tall, but he wasn’t intimidatingly built, his aura did that for him. Ren had the whole scary package. 

“Your seats are already prepared, if you’d like to enter.” Hiding the curl of his lip was difficult, she could see his nose twitching, but she commended his effort. 

Kylo Ren regarded his co-commander silently, then turned his head just enough to make it clear he was looking in her direction. She wanted to swallow, but didn’t dare move at all. Unfounded fears slid into her mind: what if he knew how much she complained about him? What if he didn’t like anyone who worked directly with Hux? 

After agonizing moments where Destin held the tightest military stance of her life, Ren turned and waved his hand at a crewman, who hurriedly moved to lower the ramp. She deflated visibly as Ren disappeared from sight.

“Kriffing child…” Hux mumbled, barely intelligible, but she had long been able to decipher the mumblings of angry mechanics and engineers shoved under or inside any manner of ship system, and he wasn’t so different. She wanted to do something to show solidarity, a gesture of camaraderie or sympathy, but everything she could imagine was physical in a minor way and would likely be met with disgust. The Order wasn’t much for touching. 

She settled for a sigh, as she often did. “I assume we are waiting for the rest of the Starkiller command, and then we depart?”

“Promptly.” Hux said with his exhale. “You are also welcome to wait inside the ship.”

Studying his face, she didn’t find any hint of irritation, only passiveness. 

“If it is all the same to you sir, I would rather stay here.”

He glanced at her again. “Very well.”

The command group trickled in, no one being late, but most of them were some level of rushed as they moved up the ramp, all holding away bags like her own. The First Order, despite their whispered rumors among the Core as inhuman monsters, perfect soldiers, were still human in the end. Though no one else pushed themselves quite as hard as she had so far (by her own assumption, of course, corroborated by the hours she had logged in private conference rooms and on her datapad), the burden of Starkiller’s conception was a heavy one, and they were all simultaneously mentally fatigued and physically wired, excited to go but frazzled beyond belief. 

Finally, the General turned. “Time to go.” He didn’t wait, just walked swiftly up the ramp, boots clicking sharply on the metal. She hurried along. 

They strapped into the most basic of safety restraints, a formality that the Order seemed to abide by even when they were doing something so simple as landing on a planet from orbit. It was fair in some respects, as Starkiller had a very cold climate with a tendency for snow storms. The pilot was calling out the take off procedures and a crewman was preparing to close the ramp when a dark figure sprinted to them, shot up the ramp and paused. Destin caught a flash of facial scars and then the figure was moving, red-tinted hair flying off their back as they slipped by the rest of the command team and beelined straight for Kylo Ren. 

The two black clad, similarly dressed figures looked at one another, silent, and the latecomer sat down next to him without further excitement.

Destin looked to Hux, seated to her right, but he minutely shook his head. Later, his expression seemed to say.

She let it drop for the moment, but kept trying to sneak glances throughout the short ride. She’d never seen this person before, and that was always interesting. And to be involved in some way with Kylo Ren? Intriguing. Maybe this was one of his Knights or whatever (she’d heard the term from one of her...accidental forays into the servers. Computer tech wasn’t really her forte, but she could work it in a pinch. There had been one time or another where it had been needed, and then she couldn’t help but dabble. She probably now knew way too much about 1) the personal gossip of higher officers, and 2) Order secrets. They all tended to get jumbled up in each other. In the end, it was just more insurance, but she was fairly sure Hux would not approve.)

The stranger’s hair was truly a shocking shade of red, more impressive even than the General’s. Was it synth? Genetic? Enhanced? Destin was a tad envious, pushing her own dark auburn (brown, she thought more truthfully) behind her ear out of nervous habit. The artificial lighting had taken all the happy sun streaked highlights she’d had in her youth. Working on starships would always be a trade-off. 

They made it down to the surface without incident, and Kylo, along with his shadow, swept past the officers as soon as the ramp dropped. The shuttle had landed in a small but serviceable hangar, and the crew immediately began unloading their belongings. Destin went to get her bags, but Hux put a hand out. “They’ll get it. Come with me, there’s something I’d like to show you.”

Shrugging quickly and dropping her away bag on the pile, she dutifully followed the General. He passed off orders to the rest of the exec team, and they split off to what she believed was north, closer to the core of what would be a truly giant base. For now it was just barely formed hallways and blast doors, not even set up to a security system, only openable by hand-typed commands. He said nothing as they moved further away from the inhabited areas of the base and further into the cold. There was some insulation, but with every door they opened she could feel the temperature drop. Luckily it was what passed for summer on Starkiller, therefore they didn’t need any real protective wear. It was simply uncomfortable.

Destin was going to ask where they were going, when he stopped. Looking ahead, there were large doors, so large they could fit an Upsilon-class through, two abreast even. The command pad looked small and ineffective, and Hux’s hand hovered near it. She heard him take a breath and key in the unlock. 

The doors pulled open on heavy hydraulics, and their massive depth, a few meters at least, became apparent. She pulled in a breath of her own, shocked. Revealed before them was a railing just paces past the doors, and beyond that...nothing. 

There was a incomprehensibly large hole in the ground, so massive in scale it made her dizzy to even try to comprehend. Above the hole was a closed overhang that was effective in keeping out the elements, but still somehow it felt as if she could blow off the edge if she got too close, fall in and never stop falling. The room, if you could call it that, was...almost warm. 

The railing and walkway wrapped around the hole, and she could barely make out the doors on the other side. It was more that she knew what they were from mental reconstruction rather than any true viewing. More doors speckled the walls all around, and open wiring panels showed the space as the entirely unfinished piece it was. 

Hux seemed to have none of her baseless apprehension, and strolled up to the railing. His hands, still sleek and black, rested on the thick top rail, and he lifted his chin as if a king surveying his kingdom. She followed, and wrapped her cold fingers securely around the metal.

“This is…” she breathed, losing her words to the vastness of the space before them.

“The hollow for the firing cylinder. It’s magnificent. We need to put the network for the thermal oscillator around the core of the planet before we dig any deeper, but the warmth is already coming through.” 

He sounded so proud, so light, as if the warmth was from the comfort of a roaring fireplace as opposed to the terrifyingly close core of an entire planet. He seemed relaxed.   
“Once that is done,” he continued, “we can start on the collectors on the far side of the planet.”

“Exactly to plan.” She said softly. It felt like maybe if she spoke too loud, the hole would eat her voice, and she may never speak again. Its size was still something too great for her to manage. 

“Exactly.” Hux replied. “How those parts connect is on you, Lieutenant Commander. I thought you would find inspiration in seeing the humble beginnings of this great feat of engineering.” He swept put a hand past the railing. “Does it look to fit your schematics?”

“Of course,” she said, still quiet, “it's beautiful.” And as she acclimated to the idea, the secure knowledge of the path ahead, it did become beautiful. She started mentally drawing in support structures, heat shields, energy converters, ports and wire systems and everything it would need to direct the massive power of a star. 

In a fit of happiness, heart swelling with pride, she placed her hand on top of the General’s, recently brought back to rest. As soon as she’d done it she panicked internally, wondering how he would react. It wasn’t improper by any conduct standards, but personal space seemed important to him. She didn’t want to mess up the careful friendship she’d obtained by pushing them closer without warning. She was about to pull her hand away when she caught sight of his face. It wasn’t angry, or happy, but almost puzzled as he took in her hand on his. It was a fragile look, and one that marked itself in her memory immediately. 

“I’m sorry,” she started nervously, but stopped as his expression shifted to his regular cool determination. Supinating his hand under hers but not dislodging it, he rested the back of it on the railing, grip loose around her palm. 

She waited but a moment before slowly curling in her fingers, and in anyone’s definition they were then holding hands. She didn’t know how to react past that point, the simple fact pinging around her suddenly empty head. 

“Destin,” he said, pitching his voice low to match hers, “I know this project will mean a new era, a new power among the stars. I feel it is auspicious that you are with us, and I am held firm in knowing you feel similarly as I.”

It was hard not to let a grin split her face, but she managed to dial it down to a small smile. “Of course, General. I am proud, thankful to be here with you, versus anywhere else in the galaxy.” The ‘with you’ was dangerous, possibly becoming too personal when she knew by his wording he was trying to keep it less so, but honesty had unfortunately never become something she could force down. Down to her very bones she knew her words to be true. At this second she had nowhere else she’d rather be, except standing at the edge of a mind-boggling canyon, holding hands with the most brilliant man in the First Order. Sappy? Yes. But that was her Core World upbringing once again. 

Hux looked her in the eyes briefly, then back to their hands. He shifted slightly towards her, then away. She could practically feel his indecisiveness and thought it best to give him a break. Destin gave his hand a squeeze, then released. Her fingers slid over his palm as they left, and he closed his hand slowly in their wake, as if deciding too late not to let go. She kept smiling. “I think we have a meeting in a half hour, sir?”

His eyes finally left his empty hand. “Yes. It is a long base, and yet without turbolifts. We’d best start walking.” 

He keyed in the code to close the doors as they left, and Destin waited patiently, suddenly itching to get back to her datapad. Ideas and plans had begun jumping around in front of her eyes again, and she needed to get it all down. But in a moment. The thoughts weren’t going anywhere; she had excellent recall, and Hux wasn’t going to stay around forever. Walking at their regular clip down the halls again, arms almost brushing and entirely comfortable, back towards the cold, she couldn’t hold her curiosity anymore.

“So who was that, anyways?”

**Author's Note:**

> lord, i am sorry. i cant figure out the tagging system on the right blogs so i have no idea if it is anywhere even close to the true timeline for this blaringly obvious insert of another character (its caez. its really just...yeah. caez. that caezlo is under my skin and in my heart hardcore.) please dont hate me chris. if im lucky youll neeeeeever notice. (caez can be found lurking around caezsucksdangs.tumblr.com i am shameless)


End file.
